Users who sign up to the free service online are invited to add their portfolio and decide their 'risk appetite'. The firm then adds the information to the pool of all user market views and explores the data, focusing on the information that has over time proved most credible.

The algorithms then extract insights that are specific to each member, predicting how stocks will perform over time, covering different scenarios, and also how each one interacts with other potential parts of a portfolio.

Once the data is aggregated and a projection of returns and risks for users is developed, the system carries out a search based on real and hypothetical portfolios and offers up trade ideas.

Jeremy Mabbitt, founder, Vidivici - and former founder of alorithmic trading outfit Codefarm - says: "You can think of it as a kind of social networking platform, fused with a sophisticated analytical engine of the sort used by professional fund managers. What's unique is that, while in the past such tools have been driven by historic data, Vidivici is driven by what the market itself thinks will happen."